During Cinco de Mayo this May there was a wonderful Cinco de Mayo festival here in Sioux City celebrating the cultures and lifestyles of Mexico with food, music and many interesting speakers. One aspect of the festival was the tie Iowa shares with Mexico through the Monarch butterfly.
As part of the festival, master gardeners from the Woodbury County Extension office provided an information booth about butterfly gardening. The Dorothy Pecaut Center also provided a booth and speaker on the Monarch's migration habits.
Chip Taylor, a professor of entomology from the University of Kansas, is the director of Monarch Watch. Monarch Watch is an educational outreach program that provides information on the biology and conservation of Monarch butterflies. The program asks volunteers around the country to capture and tag monarch butterflies to help further the research on their migration habits and needs. This is a great way for young students to become involved in large-scale research on the monarch butterfly. The Web site monarchwatch.org is a wealth of information and learning opportunities relating to this butterfly. Parents, think about those "I'm bored" summer vacation days just ahead! Teachers, the Web site is a wealth of information on Monarch biology and includes a gallery where students' writing and artwork can be published - what a motivator for a budding writer, artist or naturalist! Individual students and /or classrooms have many opportunities participate in the research of these
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fascinating butterflies.
As part of his speech, Taylor explained some of the feeding requirements for the Monarch butterfly. Monarchs feed exclusively on milkweed plants, which are found readily in the Midwest. Some of these milkweed plants have a toxin in them that is stored in the butterfly's wings and exoskeleton. It is believed that this acts as a defense- mechanism for the butterfly because predators of the butterfly may learn that eating the Monarch will make them sick and thus avoid eating them.
Monarchs migrate every year from Mexico to North America in the spring. New generations then migrate back to Mexico in the fall. In Iowa we are fortunate to be in their "flight zone." We cannot only help the butterflies in their migration but also add pleasure to our own gardening by including a few milkweed plants in our garden areas. If you log on to http://www.monarchwatch.org and click on "milkweed" on the contents page you can look at pictures of the many species of milkweed. Some are more appropriate for Iowa home gardens than others. The tropical milkweed will stay a little more confined in a garden than some of the other Iowa milkweed plants. Taylor pointed out that the tropical milkweed is not a perennial here in Iowa but that it is "easier to grow than grass." Just collect some seeds in the fall to be sown the following spring. Some of the perennial milkweeds can also be grown here, but site them carefully as they have a long taproot and won't like to be moved after they
are established. All of the milkweed species will want to be in full sun. While some will tolerate drier conditions they will all need to be watered on a regular basis while they are getting established.
The Monarch butterfly will lay its eggs only on milkweed plants as they are its main food source for the larvae. If you keep an eye on your plants over the summer you eventually may see the green larvae (caterpillars) and be able to watch them evolve through their biological cycle to become those beautiful orange and brown butterflies that you see every fall. Plants are available at nurseries here in town to get you started this year and then you will be prepared to collect those seeds for next spring. Just wait until the seedpods are very dry but not yet open. Remove the seeds and store the dry ones in a container that is dark and dry. http://www.Monarchwatch.org also has a very interesting article on milkweed propagation for more detailed information.
